Aunt Rosie's tournaments start this weekend

A record 128 teams, including 22 in the open division, will take the field this summer in the 19th annual Aunt Rosie's International Girls'/Women's Fast Pitch Softball Tournament which gets underway June 22-24 at the Audubon Recreation Center in Amherst.

A total of 30 teams in the 16 and under division will begin the five week-long tournament on Friday morning. Games in the 16 and under division will continue on Saturday and conclude with the championship game on Sunday afternoon.

Other Aunt Rosie's divisions will play on the following weekends, including 14 and under (June 30-July 2), 12 and under (July 6-8), open division (July 13-15), and 18 and under (July 19-22).

All slots for the 2007 Aunt Rosie's are full and there is a waiting list of approximately 20 teams. The open division, with no age limit, began play in the Aunt Rosie's last year when 15 teams were entered. According to Tournament Director Bob Nowak, the jump to 22 teams is attributable to the fact that the Amateur Softball Association Women's Major (open division) National Championship Tournament was played in Amherst in 2006 and returns again in 2008.

"I think more open division teams are forming and gearing up to play in the Nationals next summer," said Nowak. "A few years ago there were only one or two open division teams in Western New York. This year, seven Western New York teams are registered to play in our tournament. We are thrilled to have been a catalyst for the growth of open division women's softball in our area."

The Western New York teams which will compete in this year's Aunt Rosie's women's open division are Amherst Lightning Gold, Mustangs White, Mustangs Blue, WNY Extreme, Amherst Lightning Weisenborn, Amherst Lightning Brooks, and Chautauqua Crush.

One of the major incentives for teams to play in the Aunt Rosie's is the number of college coaches who attend. This weekend, 15 college coaches are expected to attend the 16 and under tournament. Next month, 25 coaches are expected for the 18 and under tourney. Exposure at the Aunt Rosie's has resulted in many girls receiving college scholarships. A recent example is Kerry Ulmer of Williamsville North. She sewed up a scholarship to Canisius College after coach Mike Rappl saw her play in last year's Aunt Rosie's.

The Aunt Rosie's is also known as the place to shop for hard to get softball apparel. In addition to personalized tournament T-shirts, custom made on site, more than 60 different softball theme T-shirts will be available. There will also be a variety of softball shorts, hats, visors, license plate holders, pillow cases, underwear, and other novelty items for sale. Nowak gets them through a network of four different suppliers, one in Philadelphia, one in Cincinnati, and two in the Midwest.

The ASA Major Division National Championships are played at the Amherst Girls Softball complex at the Audubon Recreation Center. The ASA Championship Tournament is run by the Metro Buffalo Region of the ASA in conjunction with the Aunt Rosie's Tournament Committee. The Aunt Rosie's is the largest ASA sanctioned girls'/women's fast pitch softball tournament in the Northeast and one of the ten largest such tournaments in the country.

For more information, contact Peter Ruppar at 462-4849.